Textual harassment

By NASA MARIA ENTABAN

It’s much easier to stay in touch these days. But our communication devices also render us vulnerable to harassment.

One afternoon, *Sara “signed in” at the guardhouse of her friend’s apartment, in order to obtain a visitor’s pass to enter the building.

She wrote down her cellphone number, full name and MyKad number in the logbook, thinking nothing of that routine act.

Easy access: Social networking sites are a lot of fun, but be wary of how much personal information you post on your profile.

Little did this 24-year-old fresh graduate know that a stalking nightmare was about to begin. As she was leaving the building several hours later, her cellphone beeped and she received a text message – “U look gud in yur green dress” – from an unknown number.

Shocked, she immediately looked around, scanning her surroundings for anyone she might recognise, but saw no one.

This was only the beginning of a three-week long ordeal of late night missed calls, and random messages throughout the day detailing her actions, what clothes she was wearing and who she was with and where.

Sara sent text messages to her harasser, asking him to leave her alone.

She even got her older brother to call and tell him off, but to no avail. The messages kept coming; the contents seemed innocent but the fact that the perpetrator refused to stop was troubling.

Although the perpetrator never made physical contact with Sara, he made sure that she knew he was stalking and watching her by describing her appearances and whom she was with. He knew which college she was attending because she had left her college card at the guardhouse.

“Thankfully, I graduated soon after the harassment started, and no longer had to go to college. So, he was not able to find me,” says Sara, who did not lodge a police report as the harassment stopped after she changed her cellphone number and left college.

Take precautions: One of the best ways to get rid of a cellphone stalker is to change your number.

Fortunately for her, the harasser was not persistent and did not try to look for her.

Incidents such as these are not uncommon, as stalking and harassment have become easier with the availability of communication information technology.

Communication gadgets such as cellphones have made staying in touch a breeze, but it also gives people direct access to us. In digital communication, people can also easily conceal their identity or remain anonymous as all we actually see is the other party’s telephone number or e-mail address.

Get help: If you feel you are being harassed, tell someone. If the problem doesn’t go away, report to the authorities. — YAP CHEE HONG/ The Star

The modern-day ardent admirer no longer have to stalk their object of affection, or reach out to them by tailing them and sending notes. All they need now is your cellphone number, your e-mail address, your Facebook or Friendster profiles, or your blog address to stay in touch … whether their presence is welcomed or not.

The great World Wide Web and the ease at which people can hide their identities has provided perpetrators a new platform to stalk, scare, and harass.

Recently, *Erica added someone as her contact on the instant messaging service Windows Live Messenger.

“I thought nothing of it because he claimed he knew my boyfriend, so I added him. Later on, I was surfing the Internet and he asked me to switch on my webcam,” recalled the 21-year-old student.

Erica didn’t, but still permitted him to show his face to her. She regretted it within seconds.

“He wanted to show me more than just his face. He was stark naked, smiling goofily at me through the webcam,” said Erica, shuddering at the memory of being flashed right in the sanctuary of her home.

Not knowing what else to do, she removed and blocked him from her contact list.

“I didn’t think it was enough of a big deal to report it to the police, or if it was considered harassment, so I just left it at that. Thankfully I haven’t heard from him since,” said Erica.

Erica has also had problems with identity theft. Last year someone stole pictures off her Friendster profile and used them to create a separate account of her. In this new profile, her face was superimposed onto nude figures. Her house telephone number and cellphone number were posted on the page as well, and for several months she was barraged with calls from strangers asking for sex.

Eventually, the calls stopped as “her” page was never updated.

Throughout these episodes, Erica did not seriously think of reporting the harassment. She regarded the incidents more as pranks, and took them as one of the pitfalls of being active online.

Sources from The Star.

http://thestar.com.my/youth2/story.asp?file=/2008/9/10/youth2/1977729&sec=youth2

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